The performances, part of the ‘Ópera en minúscula’ series, will take place on Friday and Saturday
‘Ópera en minúscula’ presents Auditorio de Tenerife’s new production of Péter Eötvös’s The Golden Dragon at Teatro Leal in La Laguna this Friday, 25 September, and Saturday, 26 September, at 7.00 p.m. Based on the play of the same name by Roland Schimmelpfennig, one of the most frequently performed living German playwrights worldwide, this contemporary opera is a grotesque tragedy combining a compelling narrative and incisive social commentary with intelligent humour.
The production is part of the Ópera de Tenerife pre-season, an initiative of the Tenerife Island Council through Auditorio de Tenerife, sponsored by the Canary Islands Institute for Cultural Development of the Regional Government and Spain’s National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM). This third edition of ‘Ópera en minúscula’ also benefits from the collaboration of La Laguna City Council.
Jordi Francés is the musical director and Bárbara Lluch the stage director. David Pizarro and Rober del Campo are responsible for the set design, Marc Gonzalo for the lighting design, Clara Peluffo for the costume design and Mercè Grané for the choreography. The cast comprises soprano Natalia Labourdette, mezzo-soprano Anna Gomá, tenors Pablo García-López and Santiago Bürgi, and baritone Toni Marsol.
One night, in the kitchen of a Thai-Chinese-Vietnamese fast-food restaurant on the ground floor of a multi-storey block of flats, a young Chinese woman is suffering from severe toothache. She has no residence permit, no money and no way of going to a dentist. Nor can she find her missing sister. Her colleagues decide to extract the tooth themselves. The young woman’s story becomes interwoven with those of the many other people who live in the building.
Running through the action is the fable of the cicada and the ant. Having saved nothing during the summer, the cicada asks the ant for food when winter comes. The ant agrees, but first forces her to work without pay and then into prostitution. The cicada endures this exploitation until an old ant—the grandfather—tears off her antennae and, later, a young ant—the boyfriend—seriously injures her.